Monday, May 18, 2009

Thank you Dorothy for the new "hair-do"

Does anyone remember the 1st pictures of Daisy I put on the blog, back in March? Or how about the later one when Katie trimmed half of her & left the front half from the withers forward untrimmed? Well this is what she looks at completely trimmed, except for her legs & ears. We decided to not trim those, to help keep the flies at bay.

She is a tiny little girl once all the hair is gone except for a few extra lumpy pounds here & there. I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow. As soon as she was trimmed, I put a fly mask on her & once again, she started walking around like she couldn't see. We watched her for a few minutes, & she finally started walking normally, although still putting her nose down to the ground like she was sniffing a trail. Her Mom said she had never had a fly mask on before, but I've never seen one act like that. By feeding time, she was doing just fine.

Today was so busy I don't know if I can remember it all. Courtney & Martha along with Dorothy came out this afternoon, to trim those that needed it & massage Chester & Max. We also had a new Vet come out to check out Chester, Max & Pepper. Dr. Weaver does a lot of acupuncture & manipulation & all 3 of those are crippled in one way or another.

His exam of Pepper showed his problem is probably in his right hip. He said it could be bad arthritis, or it could have gotten broke or cracked. I know in the past he has been knocked down at least twice, so who knows. He said there really wasn't much that could be done, unless we had x-rays to show exactly what the problem is & even then probably nothing could be done. So I will continue trying different things to hopefully find something that will help that leg be more comfortable. Right now, he's getting Hyalun, Vit E, Flax Seed Oil, & White Willow Bark, subject to change..................!!

He adjusted Max, after poor Max almost fell down. Max can get real nervous if he doesn't know what's going on. So this strange man, carrying a bunch of medicine & hauling an aluminum ladder type thing was almost too much for him. He started trying to back up & his "backie" up doesn't work very good at all. I thought he was going down. Dr. Weaver got to see him at his worst physically. We got him collected back up, & he let Dr. Weaver adjust his back. Now we will see if it makes a difference, or if all of his problems stem from the break in his neck.

He didn't do any work on Chester, although he did give him a happy shot so Courtney could trim his good front foot. We know he can stand on his bad leg, BUT convincing him to do so isn't easy. A happy shot makes it much easier. Dr. Weaver said new x-rays might give us a better idea of what is going on in there. We had planned on taking him up to the Equine Center the next time we have to haul someone anyway for new x-rays.

Courtney wanted him to look at Judy, which Judy wasn't so sure about the whole situation. Martha & I were standing clear across the pen, & heard her hips crack when he adjusted them. Courtney had been saying she was "out". I'm real anxious to see how she moves tomorrow.

It's been about a year since Jenny the mammoth donkey has had any problems with her feet. When Courtney started to trim her, she noticed a lot of flies in one spot above her coronet. Sure enough there was a soft spot, a probable abscess. At this period in time of treating abscesses there is 2 schools of thought. Soak or poultice & wrap. Soaking has been a long time treatment for abscess, but a lot of people are going to poultice & wrapping instead. I'm about in the middle on the subject. So I wrapped tonight & will think about soaking tomorrow..........!!!! (G)

2 comments:

montanasmama said...

Hey Trish, just thought I would leave a quick message to let you know I check your blog every day. It's wonderful how well you take care of all those kids of yours. Thanks from me and the donks here.

I see you have solved the skunk problem! LOL Wasn't that an exciting time?

Tish said...

Exciting doesn't even come close to explaining the skunk problem........!!! (G) I am really REALLY glad they decided to shop somewhere else.

I don't know if the kids would agree that they are well taken care of. Their opinion of our efforts is usually very easy to read, & it isn't cooperation most of the time.

We do enjoy the good times & although I wish there wasn't a need for rescue, I'm glad we can help the few we do.

Good to hear from you.